The present invention is directed to an elongated protective profile for installation in a cable channel on top of the cable for protecting the cable and to an apparatus for installing the profile in the installation channel.
WO 97/20236 teaches a method of installing an optical cable in a solid installation base, which includes forming a channel or groove in the material and then inserting the cable in this milled channel or groove. Above the cable, an elongated hold-down device, which is constructed in a U-shaped fashion, is used with the legs being laterally braced against the channel wall. The insertion of the hold-down device, which also serves for protection, occurs more or less by manual actuation.
The object of the present invention is to create an insertion apparatus for elongated protective profiles, which can be easily inserted into an installation channel by the apparatus. It is also an object to design a suitable protective profile for this insertion apparatus.
The stated object is achieved with an insertion apparatus which includes a frame, a feed drum with the elongated protective profile being wound thereon and said drum being mounted for rotation in the frame, an arrangement for moving the apparatus along the installation channel, a press roll which engages the profile and inserts it into the installation channel, and a pair of guide rolls for positioning the protective profile after it was unwound from the feed drum and guiding the profile to the press roll, which inserts the profile into the channel as the apparatus moves thereon. The protective profile preferably comprises a center portion between two flexible margin portions, and the flexible margin portions can bend in a direction opposite to an insertion direction so that the profile assumes a U-shaped cross-section when inserted in the channel, with the center portion being located at the bight portion and the margin portions being the legs extending therefrom.
The insertion of the protective profile with the aid of the inventive insertion apparatus has several advantages. For example, the protective profile is evenly and continuously led into the channel and profile structures that are particularly suited for this are utilized, such as U-shaped profiles with flexible legs. In addition, the protective profiles are designed so that they can be delivered wound on a feed drum and used in the insertion apparatus. The utilized feed drum is provided with a brake so that the drawing of the profile from the feed drum can be controlled. In pressing of the protective profile by means of a press roll, it is guaranteed that the protective profile is properly positioned and fixed with the lateral margins of the protective profile being bent so that they spread against the wall of the installation channel. This guarantees that the protective profile can no longer move from the installation channel independently. The filling with a correspondingly suitable filler, such as a flexible filling compound or swelling agent like threads, formed fabrics or filling compounds where swelling occurs prior to or during the insertion of the protective profile. This produces a protection against water penetration. What are known as microcables, which consist of a tube in which light waveguides are loosely placed, are preferably utilized for this type of installation.
The protective profile can consist not only of metal but also of plastic and simultaneously serves as mechanical protection against external influences. Glass-fiber- or aramide-yarn-reinforced plastic is preferably utilized as a material for the protective profile, and this plastic preferably is extrusion-coated with a high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Such a protective profile can be produced in great lengths and can be easily wound on the feed drum. If a protective profile made of metal or of plastic with elongated inserts or liners of metal wires is utilized, it can also be employed as a grounding wire or lead or as an electrical conductor. In addition, longitudinally extending copper strands or light waveguides can be placed in the plastic protective profile, and these strands are suitable for the supervision of the cable run.
The following advantages result from such an inventive protective profile:
The cable installed in the channel is fixed, the residual space of the channel preferably being filled with bituminous sand;
The cable is protected against mechanical influences;
The cable is protected against heat influence in the filling of the installation channel with the hot bituminous material;
In case of repair, the installation channel can be easily opened, without stressing the cable, by merely pulling out the protective profile; and
Given additional insertions of wires in the protective profile, corresponding transmissions can also occur.
Given a microcable with a metal tube and a corresponding outer insulation, a protective profile made of either metal or plastic with inserted wires can serve as a return line. Wires embedded in a protective profile enable conducting power from a power supply.
The protective profile can be attached directly to a microcable, so that a single insertion unit is formed.
Forms which are suitable as profile forms are, above, all, those which spread out against the wall of the installation channel subsequent to being pressed into the channel so that a fixing immediately occurs.
The insertion apparatus according to the present invention can be designed as a self-propelled unit or can be installed in a cable carriage or in a carriage that contains the filling agent. Bituminous sand is particularly well suited as a filling agent for the installation channel.
The insertion apparatus appropriately also contains apparatuses for inserting swelling agents and/or filling agents, so that a plurality of processes can occur in one pass along the channel with each item being successively applied. In other words, a filling compound or swelling agent can be inserted in the channel prior to inserting the protective profile.
In addition, the feed drum is respectively designed so that it is suitable for winding up the individual protective profiles having different various structures.
Other advantages and features of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, the drawings and claims.